Looks like I should be eating more of these foods. The only way I've ever eaten much beets is in borscht. I'd like to eat more cabbage, but Patricia doesn't like it. What do you do with Swiss chard? Salad?

[Via John Scalzi]

[Update a little later]

She says she does so like cabbage. She just doesn't like it cooked, or with corned beef. That is, she doesn't like corned beef, so she doesn't like corned beef and cabbage.

Shred the swiss chard. Sautee garlic in olive oil and add the chard. Cook for a few minutes and add a pinch of salt. If it's too hard to chew on this way, add just enough chicken or vegetable stock to cover, bring to the boil, cover and turn the heat off. Wait a few minutes and tuck in.

Braising is a good method for cabbage. Google "verza affogata" and enjoy.

When in a hurry, 1/4in sliced cabbage pressure cooked for ~90s with salt and caraway seed and served with butter is surprisingly sweet and flavorful.

I always thought the Swiss Chard was a type of fighter aircraft. Now you're telling me it tastes good. It certainly is versatile.

;)

It's a non-dairy creamer and a floor wax!

If you like Indian food, you could try one of Madhur Jaffrey's recipes for cabbage. Or else you could try this simplified variation, which is easier on the palate:

Slice the cabbage (1/3-1/2 small cabbage) very fine. Chop half an onion, 1-2 small chili peppers. Squeeze one lemon, extracting the juice. Grind 1 tspn cumin partially (that is leave some of the cumin whole). Sautee the onion in vegetable oil, add the chili and the cabbage. Turn up the heat and continue stirring the mix. As the cabbage wilts add the cumin. Add salt as needed, pepper later if you wish.. Before the cabbage goes completely soft, add 1-2 tablespoon butter. Turn off the heat and add the lemon or lime juice just prior to digging in. Don't overcook.

Sautee garlic in olive oil...

Virtually anything can be cooked in this and come out well.

In my lifetime I've lost count of the number of foods that start out good for you and end up bad for you and vice versa. Often the same things make the journey from good to bad and back again.

I'm not at all sure that the experts, (I've manfully resisted the temptation to put "scare quotes" round that), truly understand how our bodies turn complex carbohydrates, minerals and other assorted bits and bobs into replacements for our dying cells and energy to run our bodies, or how the processes begin to fail as we age.

I do look forward to the day when we can eat anything we like and the tailored bacteria, (and/or nannites or whatever), will take care of business.

"Shred the swiss chard. Sautee garlic in olive oil and add the chard. Cook for a few minutes and add a pinch of salt. If it's too hard to chew on this way, add just enough chicken or vegetable stock to cover, bring to the boil, cover and turn the heat off. Wait a few minutes and tuck in.
Posted by at September 2, 2007 11:46 AM"

This serves as a great foundation to a grilled white fish.

I love cabbage in the form of sourkraut (which I can't spell). Never really cared for it raw, especially the red kind they add to lettuce in salad bars.

I also love beets. As a child, I ate so many that my parents once rushed me to the hospital, mistakenly believing I had blood in my urine.

Then there's cinnamon, which hardly qualifies as something most Americans "probably don't eat." (Okay, technically what most Americans call "cinnamon" is actually "cassia" -- but the article is not differentiating between the two because the picture shows cassia sticks rather than true cinnamon.)

I guess I'm officially a good nerd because I've got both in my spice drawer.

You're not a food nerd unless you regularly watch Good Eats... or scoff at it, because you've already invented half the contraptions on it.

You're not a food nerd unless you regularly watch Good Eats...

And if I've got my DVD recorder set to record each new episode...?

Cole slaw and pickled beets next to that smoked brisket...YUM!

We learnt to love cabbage from Boiled Bacon (Ham) and Cabbage (an old Irish staple), the bacon would be boiled in a pressure cooker and then the cabbage cooked in the bacon water. It was years before I realised that cabbage wasn't meat flavoured.

Kale works well too.

Although the side effects of the entire brasica family can be a little hard to live with.

I'm not crazy about cooked cabbage either,but I loves me some coleslaw,homemade of course,most stuff in restaurants is way too sweet & what they call coleslaw at the grocery store deli makes good spackling.